i've always wanted to buy a dsrl. i'm a beginner in dsrl. i've looked at different cameras and so far these ones caught my attention:

cannon rebel T3i

or

nikon D5100

i do love though the Sony SLT a77, but it's a bit pricey and I know the cannon and nikon are cheaper. I usually take family portraits, landscape shots, but I want to use the camera for evening/afternoon soccer matches. i love soccer. i've read what i need to do to take pictures using low light.

any recommendations or cameras I haven't looked into. Thanks. I would really appreciate it. I will eventually buy additional lens later on since I've been looking into that as well. Haven't decided if I want to a prime lens though.

Both would be very adequate cameras, and you could have a great experience whichever way you go, but I will throw in a few caveats.

In order to do sports photography, there are 3 things which are usually recommended: 1) fast shutter speed, 2) good ISO performance (especially for indoors or evening photography), and 3) fast auto-focus. Neither of those options come for cheap.

The professionals would recommend either the 500mm f/4L IS USM for daylight, or the 300m or 400mm f/2.8L IS USM for night / indoors. All of those options are in the 5000$-10000$ range with a high-end camera body such as the 1D X, which has insane ISO performance, amazing fps, and crazy auto-focus. In order to freeze the action, you will need a fast shutter speed. In order to have a fast shutter speed at night time or indoors, you need to play with the ISO and the aperture of your lens. If you make sacrifices on either the camera body or the lens, you will have a harder time taking pictures. Not to say you won't take some amazing ones, but your % of good shots will be lower than using the top gear, especially for sports photography.

If you had another main interest, such as portraits, I'd say a T2i with a 50mm f/1.8 and a Nissin 622 flash would be plenty to get you started. But sports photography is another beast where more $$$ = better shots (at least if you know how to handle that expensive gear).

A good compromise would be the T4i which can be pre-ordered now. It comes with 9 cross AF-points, and can shoot 5 fps. The low-light performance should be improved over the T3i, so an improvement on all 3 essential sports requirements. I would expect up to ISO 1600 shouldn't be a problem (as opposed to ISO 800 for T2i/T3i), and ISO 3200 should be doable on a stretch. Anything higher would be only good for newspaper or personal use.

Another caveat is the lens. Unless you would be taking photos right on the field, chances are you'll need some sort of telephoto lens. The Tamron SP 70-300mm VC USD would be the minimum I would recommend for this, coming in at 300$-500$ depending on your location. A 70-200mm f/2.8 would be another great option also, giving you better aperture so you can use a faster shutter speed, but losing on some distance.

Nikon D7000 is a bit more expensive than your first 2 suggestions, but cheaper than the Sony. 6fps & good high ISO performance. But as Jean-Pierre has said, performance will depend mainly on the lens.........& how much you can afford.

Not too sure if you already bought it, but with a more expensive lens and a less expensive body you will have a better set I guess (at least for indoor) and a bit more futureproof as you will keep your lenses and change your bodies over the time. I'd look at the Sigma 70-200 f/2,8 HSM II (note the II!). It's fast and has excelent IQ. And with fast I mean that it focuses fast and is a ''fast'' lens (f/2.8 all over the range). A bit less good body (such as a Sony A550 -maybe you can find it used) would be a better option with this lens. Otherwise the Nikon D90 is a very good higher end body.

I finally bought the Nikon D 7000 and Nikkor AF-S VR Zoom 170-300 mm f/4.5-5.6 G IF-ED lens. So happy to explore this new camera and I am planning on staying away from auto because I do want to learn how use to it.

Good choice of lens. In good light it will hold up ok for sports photography. Watch your backgrounds though as you will not be able to isolate the subject as well as a faster lens. If you're covering sport, try shooting at local events or getting access to shoot pitch side. You'll end up with much better positions to shoot from. In terms of high ISP performance, the D7000 should suit your needs. Look into the auto ISO function, which will allow you to set your minimum shutter speed before the camera begins to increase ISO - this will be very useful when shooting outdoors when light levels change in a fast moving environment.

Great choice of lens! The 70-300 is an excellent tele, it's sharp, autofocuses quickly, and has great range for the price. However, at 300mm you'll be looking at an f/5.6 aperture, so be sure to boost your ISO. In some dim indoor conditions you may need to up it all the way to 6400, but I wouldn't go much higher, despite the D7000's ability to go all the way up to 25 600 (HI2).

A good way to keep the motion sharp is a technique called panning. Pan the camera as the subject's moving, keeping the subject in one specific part of the frame. An example of this...

I think that should be rephrased! Try using it at an airshow and you may have a different opinion.

I tracks well with most bodies but is far from the zippiest tool in the box. If you're focusing on something small (birds in flight, aircraft) then manually focusing to infinity before trying to acquire a focus lock will help - otherwise it will hunt like crazy and be frustrating.

thank you for your replies. I'm learning new things to research on your replies. I heard about infinity yesterday. I'm mostly learning about this on photographersonutube.com and others sites, but mostly on photographersonutube.com

so far i have down the topics of aperture, shutter speed, iso, how to set up infinity properly, going on AF-S where i select the focal point, and next i'm going to break out with a photography book to learn about subject, background, and other topics. i've never taken a photography class so i know i need to learn the basics. any topic you recommend or sites that you recommend? thanks.

i was taking pictures in the sunset yesterday and my shutter speed wasn't right. i noticed my pics were really underexposed. i'll be taking more pictures today. i couldn't continue taking pictures because it was very windy and since i got lasik surgery about more than a month ago, i don't want to risk it either way.

After that, I'd say enjoy your camera. With exposure you have 3 things to balance - Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO. If I were you I'd use the camera in Aperture Priority mode, and change your ISO settings. Auto ISO is fantastic - you don't have to worry about a thing then really. Just select your minimum shutter speed on your auto ISO setting depending on which focal length you're using. If you're shooting with the 70-300 then stick it on minimum shutter speed of 1/250th to 1/500th and you're away. The camera will then use the Aperture that you pick, and as soon as it gets too dark and shutter speeds drop to the minimum setting you've made, the ISO will automatically increase to maintain your min shutter speed.

Generally you'll want your minimum shutter speed to be 1 / (1.5 x focal length) on a DX camera. so shooting at 40mm, then minimum shutter speed of 1/(1.5 x 40) = 1/60th second. This will eliminate blurry shots from motion of the camera when you're handholding. NOTE - It won't eliminate blurry shots from motion of the subject. You'll have to pan if it's a moving vehicle, or just plain increase your shutter speed if it's kids at play etc.